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REVIEW: 2015 Porsche Boxter GTS

Wheels correspondent went on a driving trip through Vermont with a Porsche he camed Patricia.

Weather permitting, driving the Porsche GTS with the top down is an entertaining experience. (COSTA MOUZOURIS / FOR THE TORONTO STAR)

A roadside attraction in Vermont is the Red Barn, which sells antiques and trinkets from toy cars to vinyl records to slot machines. (COSTA MOUZOURIS / FOR THE TORONTO STAR)

The test car came with a six-speed manual transmission, and options like heated seats and dual-zone air conditioning, a Bose infotainment system with navigation, and park assist with rear-view camera. (COSTA MOUZOURIS / FOR THE TORONTO STAR)

By Costa MouzourisSpecial to the Star

Mon., June 15, 2015

WHITE MOUNTAINS, N.H. — Meet Patricia.

Patricia is a 2015 Porsche Boxster GTS, and we had a recent weekend fling in the form of a road trip through New Hampshire, a state whose attractions include the White Mountains and the wonderful, winding roads intertwined within.

I’ve never named a vehicle or assigned one a gender before. I think it is a silly tradition some people practice in an effort to give an inanimate object a personality.

However, Patricia and I bonded during our time together, so I named her in homage of a Chris de Burgh song that recounts the story of a stripper who, like the Boxster GTS, oozes sex appeal — and also likes to lower her top.

The Boxster GTS is a step up in performance and handling from the S model, which itself is a step up from the standard Boxster. Pricing reflects this additional performance, and the GTS starts at $85,100, an increase of $12,200 over the S.

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My test car came with a six-speed manual transmission, and options like heated seats and dual-zone air conditioning, a Bose infotainment system with navigation, and park assist with rear-view camera, which bumped the price to $98,335 including the destination charge.

I never said Patricia was a cheap date.

The extra money also gets you 330 horsepower from the 3.4-litre flat six, an increase of 15 hp over the S, as well as lower, firmer suspension, adjustable via the Porsche Active Suspension Management System, and 20-inch wheels, as opposed to the S model’s 19-inchers.

All of these go-fast chassis goodies give the GTS an almost racetrack-firm ride, though it proves remarkably compliant for daily use unless you select Sport mode.

One thing established soon after entering the GTS for the first time was that we’d be spending all our time together in Sport Plus mode, and with the top down unless it rained.

Sport Plus mode, selectable via a button on the centre console, is part of the Chrono Package that comes standard in the GTS, distinguishable by the large analogue/digital stopwatch on the centre of the dashboard.

This mode sharpens throttle response, selects the firmer suspension setting, tightens up steering response, and matches engine revs when downshifting. And then there’s the sound. Sport and Sport Plus modes tweak the exhaust note, raising it a few decibels over stock to a wonderful, bellowing rasp that pops and burbles when you lift the throttle.

This flat-six cacophony doesn’t seem to bother the patrons at Anthony’s Diner, in St. Johnsbury, VT., where I make it a point to stop once a year for its famous Woodsman burger.

This piece of edible Americana contains a half-cow’s worth of meat between the buns, half a pig of bacon, cheese and ample trimmings — and raises your cholesterol level a point or two just by looking at it on the menu.

But Anthony’s is well worth the stop, unless you’re a vegetarian, in which case you’d probably want to picket the place.

Continuing southeast towards North Conway, Route 302 takes us between the mountaintops of White Mountain National Forest. The GTS exhibits stellar road holding as it follows the road faithfully through the mountain peaks in Crawford Notch State Park, steering effortlessly as if by remote control.

With the top down, the exhaust sound through this section of undulating tarmac is especially captivating, reverberating off the surrounding forest, as the needle sweeps up and down the tachometer.

Cool weather and low-hanging clouds meant that a drive to the top of Mount Washington would be mostly blind, so instead we head to Hurricane Mountain Road, which is sometimes barely more than a single lane wide and includes a steep, three-kilometre climb almost straight up Kearsarge Mountain.

Still in Sport Plus mode, I deselect the firm suspension setting and make the slow ascent to the peak and down the other side, where the second-gear descent produces a giggle-inducing exhaust burble all the way down.

After an overnight stay, we head to Peach’s Restaurant in the centre of North Conway for more artery-clogging goodness. There’s always a 15-minute wait to get a seat, but the breakfast there is just short of orgasmic.

From there we take the long way home via the Kancamagus Highway that winds back through the White Mountain National Forest along the Swift River. Among the roadside curiosities here is the Red Barn, where we stop to peruse antiques and trinkets from toy cars to vinyl records to slot machines.

Alas, our weekend love affair has come to an end, and Patricia and I part ways. Our weekend encounter marks me, however, and upon my return home I begin to search the classified ads to see if Patricia has an older sister, of 1997 to 2003 vintage, who’s perhaps looking for a long-term relationship.

2015 Porsche Boxster GTS

Based in Montreal, Costa Mouzouris is a regular contributor to Toronto Star Wheels. The vehicle he tested was provided by the manufacturer. For more Toronto Star Wheels stories, go to thestar.com/autos . To reach Wheels Editor Norris McDonald:nmcdonald@thestar.ca

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